Brandon, Riverview and some of the other surrounding towns (Tampa: chapel, homes)

[Swimmom32]

Can anyone tell me if these areas are nice? Our son will either be finishing his undergraduate in at USF and then apply PA School so he would live off campus while in college and then back home if he gets into PA school, and our Daughter will be in College hopefully at USF and will be dorming..
we are 48 and 49 yrs old and too young for an adult community lol

[MortonR]

Brandon, no. Riverview, maybe, depending on where, but there is massive development in much of it.

Consider an existing area like Bloomingdale or Lithia. The commute to USF from Bloomingdale, even at rush hour, is only about 30 minutes.

What kind of budget do you have for housing? That will have a lot to do with where you can purchase.

If your daughter has not been accepted at USF don't count on her getting in as a freshmen unless she's very, very good grade and community service-wise. USF is very difficult to get into these days. Most students here go to the local community college system (Hillsborough CC) which is very good. Graduate with a 3.0 or better from a community college and you're guaranteed transfer into any state college. After all, the first two years are 100 and 200 level courses everyone takes anyway...and it saves a ton of money.


RM

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Brandon, no. Riverview, maybe, depending on where, but there is massive development in much of it.

Consider an existing area like Bloomingdale or Lithia. The commute to USF from Bloomingdale, even at rush hour, is only about 30 minutes.

What kind of budget do you have for housing? That will have a lot to do with where you can purchase.

If your daughter has not been accepted at USF don't count on her getting in as a freshmen unless she's very, very good grade and community service-wise. USF is very difficult to get into these days. Most students here go to the local community college system (Hillsborough CC) which is very good. Graduate with a 3.0 or better from a community college and you're guaranteed transfer into any state college. After all, the first two years are 100 and 200 level courses everyone takes anyway...and it saves a ton of money.


RM

This is very true...We are going to be visiting colleges this year, I have a feeling she will have to start out at community college for the 1st year as my son did then he transfered to a university....my son im not worried about he has a 3.5 average as a transfer student...

Why not Brandon? We are also looking at Wesley Chapel, Land O Lakes where our friends live..Budget up to 300k

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by Swimmom32

This is very true...We are going to be visiting colleges this year, I have a feeling she will have to start out at community college for the 1st year as my son did then he transfered to a university....my son im not worried about he has a 3.5 average as a transfer student...

Why not Brandon? We are also looking at Wesley Chapel, Land O Lakes where our friends live..Budget up to 300k

Brandon is an older area that is heavily congested due to uncontrolled development during the late 90s and early 2000s. Traffic is difficult and the demographics are spread out over a large area, meaning that things like schools can be rather diverse.

If your son is not currently attending USF, you better be sure he's accepted before you commit to anything. As a state school they limit the number of out of state transfers. Also understand that even once you move here you have to be a resident for a year before you pay in state tuition. That goes for your son and your daughter. Until you have a year's residency, you're considered an out of state student, USF or community colleges.

And the requirement for (guaranteed) transfer into a four year state college or university requires an A.A. from a Florida community college, not just attendance for a year. You have to complete your A.A. at a Florida community college in order to be accepted at a state four year school. That's no guarantee that you'll get into the college you want, either. That just means you will be accepted for admission. If the program you want is full or has limited openings, you could potentially have to wait until there are openings in it.

For example, if your daughter wants to be a teacher and attend the USF College of Education and she earns an A.A. from Hillsborough Community College, she will be guaranteed acceptance to the University of South Florida. However, she also has to apply to and be accepted by the USF College of Education, which has different standards for admission than the University as a whole.

This is something people don't always understand about the guaranteed transfer process - it only guarantees that you can transfer to that university, but it doesn't guarantee acceptance in a specific program at that university.

Wesley Chapel is like a modern Brandon in the sense that it's overdeveloped and suffers from traffic and congestion as well. Prices there are continuing to rise, making your $300k at the lower end of the housing market in that area. LoL may be less expensive, but it's farther away from USF.

And what about the work arrangements? Where would the adult(s) in the household be working? This could have a big impact on where you are looking as well.

RM

[Swimmom32]

[quote=MortonR;44762453]Brandon is an older area that is heavily congested due to uncontrolled development during the late 90s and early 2000s. Traffic is difficult and the demographics are spread out over a large area, meaning that things like schools can be rather diverse.

If your son is not currently attending USF, you better be sure he's accepted before you commit to anything. As a state school they limit the number of out of state transfers. Also understand that even once you move here you have to be a resident for a year before you pay in state tuition. That goes for your son and your daughter. Until you have a year's residency, you're considered an out of state student, USF or community colleges.

And the requirement for (guaranteed) transfer into a four year state college or university requires an A.A. from a Florida community college, not just attendance for a year. You have to complete your A.A. at a Florida community college in order to be accepted at a state four year school. That's no guarantee that you'll get into the college you want, either. That just means you will be accepted for admission. If the program you want is full or has limited openings, you could potentially have to wait until there are openings in it.

For example, if your daughter wants to be a teacher and attend the USF College of Education and she earns an A.A. from Hillsborough Community College, she will be guaranteed acceptance to the University of South Florida. However, she also has to apply to and be accepted by the USF College of Education, which has different standards for admission than the University as a whole.

This is something people don't always understand about the guaranteed transfer process - it only guarantees that you can transfer to that university, but it doesn't guarantee acceptance in a specific program at that university.

Wesley Chapel is like a modern Brandon in the sense that it's overdeveloped and suffers from traffic and congestion as well. Prices there are continuing to rise, making your $300k at the lower end of the housing market in that area. LoL may be less expensive, but it's farther away from USF.

And what about the work arrangements? Where would the adult(s) in the household be wo
RM[/QUOTE

Our son is going to stay here and finish his undergrad since he will be done same time as my daughter finishes HS, he will Apply to PA School in Florida and my daughter will attend a community college if she can not get into University of Tampa or USF 1st try although..She is also looking a few other colleges outside of NJ and Florida...either way if the stars and moon align we will be in florida

I am a realtor here in NJ and am planning on getting my license in florida, from what a friend of mine is sending me and I see online there are alot of really nice homes in Wesley chapel, Land O Lakes and a few other towns under 300k

Thank You for the info its must appreciated

[bobandsherry]

We moved to Riverview in February after we retired from our jobs in Chicago area. We are in our low 50's and weren't looking for adult community either. We looked at lots of places and we bought in development south of Riverview proper, Waterleaf, which is located on Big Bend Road. It's far enough away from traffic and congestion, but close enough to Brandon/Tampa to still enjoy the area. We love it here. Still relatively early in the development, expected to complete the homes here in 2018. There are other communities in the area as well, but we like the feel of the community and it's gated as well.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by bobandsherry

We moved to Riverview in February after we retired from our jobs in Chicago area. We are in our low 50's and weren't looking for adult community either. We looked at lots of places and we bought in development south of Riverview proper, Waterleaf, which is located on Big Bend Road. It's far enough away from traffic and congestion, but close enough to Brandon/Tampa to still enjoy the area. We love it here. Still relatively early in the development, expected to complete the homes here in 2018. There are other communities in the area as well, but we like the feel of the community and it's gated as well.

thank you bobandsherry

we are in the early stages and will be making a few visits in the fall and spring time we have time on our side so that could be a good thing or a bad thing, lol since we are just so anxious to get out of NJ once again but we do want to be near our children and they want to be near us so its all about the timing..

thank you for your input, again we do not know anything about the west coast so we look forward to exploring

[NALEXAND]

South Riverview is nice. I live near BobandSherry and its a nice, safe area. Pretty quiet. Make sure you can adjust to mostly warm weather here.

[Swimmom32]

Originally Posted by NALEXAND

South Riverview is nice. I live near BobandSherry and its a nice, safe area. Pretty quiet. Make sure you can adjust to mostly warm weather here.

How would I know what part is considered South Riverview

[bobandsherry]

Originally Posted by Swimmom32

How would I know what part is considered South Riverview

As I mentioned in my post, it's around Big Bend Road area. From Tampa area, take I75 south, exit at Big Bend Road (exit 246) and head east 2-3 miles, you'll be in the general area.